Mindfulness Works as Well as Anti-depressants

But the new study – the largest-ever analysis of research on the subject – found mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) helped people just as much as commonly prescribed anti-depressant drugs and that there was no evidence of any harmful effects.

People suffering from depression who received MBCT were 31 per cent less likely to suffer a relapse during the next 60 weeks, the researchers reported in a paper in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

Unfortunately, it alludes to the recent fad of acknowledging the ‘dark side of mindfulness’. In my opinion, this is a completely unhelpful and largely inaccurate representation.

Some people, we are told, respond negatively to mindfulness. The huge majority do not. In fact, the opposite is true. However, some people who may already be suffering from emotional instability have a negative reaction to mindfulness. Therefore, it is important that we always speak of the ‘dark side’ of mindfulness.

Kindergarten logic, if you ask me!

Nevertheless, enough of my sarcasm. Check out the brief article for a link to the meta-analysis. I prefer such things over headline-grabbing anecdotes.